​5 referendums that the West has not taken issue with

Sealed packets containing invitations calling citizens to take part in the referendum on the status of Crimea, in Constutuency No.8 of Simferopol's Kievsky District.(RIA Novosti / Andrey Stenin) / RIA Novosti

The West has condemned the upcoming referendum in Crimea as “illegitimate” and is preparing sanctions against Russia. However, the West’s seemingly random policy on other referendums hints at a double standard in their governments’ rhetoric.

Crimea will vote Sunday whether to remain an autonomous region in
Ukraine or to join with Russia. Western leaders have claimed the
referendum is a farce and that Russian forces have occupied the
region. Moscow, however, maintains there has been no such
invasion and the referendum represents the Crimeans’ right to
self-determination.

In the past the West has not batted an eyelid when countries
sought to hold referendums and in some cases actively supported
them.

Kosovo

Washington was quick off the mark with Kosovo, backing the
region’s independence two years before the UN declared it was
legal in 2008. NATO forces intervened 1999, carrying out a
massive bomb campaign on targets in Serbia and in Kosovo. Human
Rights Watch reported that over 500 civilians were killed in
NATO’s incursion into the former Yugoslavia.

South Sudan

After a long and bloody conflict, South Sudan separated from the
north in 2011 to become the world’s youngest nation state.
Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the move as a
historic day and “a testament to the tireless efforts of the
people of South Sudan in their search for peace.” Washington
has since spent around $600 million in building the new nation,
but has frozen payments because of an escalation of violence in
the fledgling nation.

The Falklands

The UK government held a referendum in overseas territory the
Falklands in 2013 to ascertain whether the islanders wished to
remain a British colony. In spite of Argentinian protests, the
West did not move to intervene and stop the vote. Argentina lays
claim to the Islands, calling them the Malvinas. In the
referendum an overwhelming 98.8 percent of the Falklands
population voted to remain British.

Scotland

The Scottish government has scheduled a referendum for September
2014 to ask its population whether it wants independence from the
United Kingdom. Britain has said if Scotland breaks away it will
not be able to use the pound and will have to reapply for EU
membership. The Scottish government, for its part, has resolved
to eject all British nuclear weapons from the country should its
population vote to be separate.

Catalonia

The autonomous Spanish region of Catalonia has announced it will
hold a vote to decide on whether it wants independence from Spain
in September. Madrid has slammed the referendum as illegal and in
violation of the Spanish constitution because it questions
Spanish sovereignty. Spain’s crippling financial crisis has led
to a growing separatist movement in Catalonia over the last few
years.